The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for measuring the dimensions of packages. More particularly, this invention pertains to a system and method for measuring the dimensions of packages being moved by material handling equipment.
Package shipping companies, such as FedEx, have a need for measuring the dimensions, i.e., the height, width, and length, of the packages they ship. This information is used for a variety of purposes, including calculating the volume occupied by the package and using this volume information to load the packages as efficiently as possible or to bill customers by volume rather than weight.
More importantly, these companies have a need to measure the dimensions of these packages as quickly as possible. This is true because, in many cases, packages being shipped must arrive at a destination within a specific amount of time. As a result, the amount of time available for use in measuring the dimensions of packages is limited in these situations. One possible solution to these problems, as taught by the present invention, is to measure the dimensions of packages as they are moved around by material handling equipment, i.e., a forklift or some other type of similar equipment.
None of the prior art systems known in the art, however, teach a system for measuring packages as they are moved around by material handling equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,561, issued to Wurz et al. on Aug. 26, 1997 and entitled xe2x80x9cDimensioning System,xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,843, issued to Chmielewski, Jr. et al. on May 29, 1990 and entitled xe2x80x9cApparatus and Method for Determining a Dimension of an Object,xe2x80x9d both teach systems for measuring the dimensions of a package being moved by a moving conveyor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,591, issued to Yoshimura et al. on May 16, 1995 and entitled xe2x80x9cMethod of Determination of a Three-Dimensional Profile of an Object,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,120, issued to Gamache et al. on Mar. 9, 1993 and entitled xe2x80x9cMachine Vision Three Dimensional Profiling System,xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,379, issued to Horn on Jul. 3, 1990 and entitled xe2x80x9cContour Measurement Using Time-Based Trangulation Methods,xe2x80x9d all teach systems for measuring the dimensions of a package by scanning the package with a beam of light while the package is stationary.
What is needed, then, is a system and method for measuring the dimensions of packages being moved by material handling equipment.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for measuring the dimensions of packages being moved by material handling equipment.
Another object is to provide a system and method for measuring the dimensions of packages having a wide range of shapes and sizes.
Still another object is to provide a system and method for measuring packages being moved by material handling equipment at different heights relative to the material handling equipment.
These and other objects, which will become apparent to someone practicing the present invention, are satisfied by a system and method for measuring the dimensions of packages that includes a computer system connected to a position tracking system and a slice measurement system. The computer system uses the position tracking system to generate a series of position measurements of the packages as they move through the slice measurement system and uses the slice measurement system to generate a cross sectional slice of the packages at each measured positioned. The computer system then uses the cross sectional slice information to determine the height and width of the packages and uses the position measurements to determine the length of the packages.